With the proliferation of the interoperability of networks and the ability to have a single network access multiple remote networks, there is now the ability for a user on one network to access content on one of the other remote networks. Access to such remote networks is typically provided through a uniform resource locator (“URL”). A user will provide the URL to his or her home network and the home network will resolve the URL to determine the appropriate network which to route the requests. For example, a user in Mexico may want to access content on a network in the United States. The network in Mexico would have to know something about the structure of the network in the United States for this to occur. Assuming the proper routing logic and interconnections are in place, a URL may provide the destination point for the user.
Such remote access is powerful for those seeking content, but provides serious security risks for the content providers and the remote network being accessed. There is no way of uniquely identifying or authorizing an individual user or subscriber to access content. Moreover, once releasing the URL, there is no way for the content provider to prevent the sharing of the URL with unauthorized users. Finally, there is currently no way to limit the time duration that such access is granted, leaving the content owner exposed to obligations to provide access to content it may have legitimately sold that has never been accessed by the purchaser, even as that content has been updated.
As such, there is a need for a system and method for embedding additional data in a URL and further encrypting that URL with the additional data to provide secure access to a user on a remote network.